"and nature, things common and uncommon; "and from these objects fhould educe Comparisons for ornament, inftruction, or illuftra❝tion *" .. (8) We may be allowed to derive our Comparifons from the appearance of things, from natural and eafy conjecture or imagination, from report and tradition, and from the heathen Mythology; as Rhetoric is by no means reftrained to the truth and precision of Logic. Some inftances of these kinds of liberty I fhall produce. From the appearance of things, and not from a real fact in nature, is a fimile of Mr BELCHAM, taken in his fine Latin ode, entitled, Mors Triumphans. The famous ALEXANDER is thus defcribed: Hark from the earth's remoteft bounds, On Ganges' banks the chief appears, In Sed inventio fimilium facilis erit, fiquis fibi omnes res animatas & inanimatas, mutas & loquentes, feras & manfuetas, terreftres & cœleftes & maritimas, artificio, cafu, natura comparatas, ufitatas atque inufitatas, frequenter ante oculos poterit ponere, & ex his aliquam venari fimilitudinem, quæ aut ornare, aut docere, aut apertiorem rem facere, aut ponere ante oculos poffit. CICER. ad HEREN. lib. iv. n. 48. In a proud blaze of armour drefs'd, He boasts himself fupremely bless'd: While o'er him death tremendous low'rs. Breathless at Babylon he lies, Whom earth's domain could not fuffice: A tomb, an urn the god contain, And close his triumphs, and his reign. The fimile follows, in which appearance, and not fact, is regarded, So in night's blue serene a star, In like manner natural and easy conjecture * Mundi in remotis finibus æftuat Jam nunc beatum fe crepat, & fremit, Præcipiti rapiende fato! Quem totus orbis non caperet, brevi Sic ftella noctu, per liquidam æthera, Pag. 4. and G & We fhall also find in celebrated Writers, Comparisons taken from the pagan Mythology, or their strange fables, against the use of which in Rhetoric I can fee no fufficient objection, provided there be no honours paid to heathen Deities, or no commendation of pagan rites and fuperititions. We may meet with an example of this fort in the following lines, in which MILTON describes the angel RAPHAEL, and then compares him to MERCURY! At once on th' eaftern cliff of paradife He lights, and to his proper fhape returns I might add, that not only the pagan fables, but other tales that have fpread through mankind, lay the foundation for Paraboles. MILTON, speaking of the fallen angels, fays, So thick the aery crowd Swarm'd, and were straiten'd; till the fignal giv'n, Behold a wonder! They but now who seem'd MILTON's Paradife Loft, book v. line 275. In In bigness to surpass earth's giant fons, Now less than smallest dwarfs in fmalleft room Wheels her pale courfe; they, on their mirth and dance At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds f. § 9. We fhall conclude with fome directions concerning the right use and management of the Parabole. And, 1. We should take heed that our similies are clear and confpicuous. "In Comparisons, fays QUINTILIAN, we should be particularly care"ful that what we adopt into our difcourfes, for "the fake of similitude, be not obscure or un known, as the thing which we employ for the "illuftrating another, ought to be clearer than "the thing we design to illuftrate ." 2. Let our Comparisons be juft and exact; that is, let there be a real resemblance between the thing that we compare, and the thing to which Gg 3 + Paradife Loft, book i. line 775. it Quo in genere id eft præcipue cuftodiendum, ne id good fimilitudinis gratia aicivimus, aut obfcurum fit, aut ignotum. Debet enim, quod illuftrandæ alterius rei gratia afumitur, ipfum elle clarius eo quod illuminat. QUINTIL. lib. viii. cap. 3. $5. 1 We shall also find in celebrated Writers, Comparifons taken from the pagan Mythology, or their strange fables, against the use of which in Rhetoric I can fee no fufficient objection, provided there be no honours paid to heathen Deities, or no commendation of pagan rites and fuperftitions. We may meet with an example of this fort in the following lines, in which MILTON defcribes the angel RAPHAEL, and then compares him to MERCURY! At once on th' eaftern cliff of paradife He lights, and to his proper fhape returns Girt like a ftarry zone his waist, and round I might add, that not only the pagan fables, but other tales that have fpread through mankind, lay the foundation for Paraboles. MILTON, fpeaking of the fallen angels, fays, So thick the aery crowd Swarm'd, and were ftraiten'd; till the fignal giv'n, * MILTON's Paradife Loft, book v. line 275. In |